210 PLAIN AND PLEASANT TALK 



amount of sugar required, in the delicacy of flavor, and in 

 the property of stewing to a pulp, without wasting away. 



A good variety of pie-plant, then, should be a vigorous 

 grower, prolific, large in the stalk, not apt to flower, of a 

 sprightly acid without any earthy or woody taste, not stew 

 ing away more than one-third when cooked, and not requir 

 ing too much sugar. 



We have observed in our trials that seedlings having 

 smooth leaves, with the upper surface varnished and glossy, 

 are seldom good ; while every plant which we have thought 

 worth keeping, had the upper surface of its leaves of a 

 deep, dull, lack-lustre green. 



FORMATION OF A BED. Select a strong and rich loam 

 Let it be spaded full two feet deep. If the subsoil has 

 never been worked, and is clay, or gravel, a large supply of 

 old manure should be mixed with it. Our working-method 

 is this : Mark off the square, begin on one side, lay out a 

 full spadeful of the top-soil clear across the bed ; lay four or 

 five inches of manure in the trench, and then spade it down 

 a full twelve inches deep ; beginning again by the side of the 

 first trench, put the top-soil of the second into the first ; add 

 manure and spade as before ; and so across the bed. The 

 surface-soil thrown out of the first trench may be wheeled 

 down and put into the last one. This process will leave 

 the bed much higher than it was ; let it stand one or two 

 weeks to settle. If the bed is prepared in autumn it will 

 be better, and in the spring it may be half-spaded again 

 before planting. 



Mark out, by line, rows three feet apart, and set your 

 plants in the rows three feet fi#m plant to plant, if of 

 the large kind, and two feet, if of the small. Very large 

 varieties require four feet every way. The buds should be 

 left just below the surface of the soil. 



AFTER CULTURE. Through the summer keep the surface 

 mellow and free from weeds. In the fall of the year, when 

 the leaves show signs of falling, form a compost heap of 



